‘Fuck you, this is my culture…’

My name is Amelia Andersdotter. I am a member of the European Parliament on behalf of the Swedish Piratpartiet since December 2011. I am mindful of the fact that I am one of only two women speaking in the opening session. Also, I am probably the youngest person speaking. I am only 25 years old.

The Piratpartiet wants to change the legislative framework for communication, interaction, innovation and culture. We formed around the idea that communication technologies and culture present fantastic ways of building broad global communities.

We want interactions, social, cultural and economical to be determined by and under the control of the people interacting.

When information, communication and culture can be freely accessible and used, which on the internet is basically always the case, this should as a general principle always be allowed and any exceptions or deviations to that general rule must be kept exceptional.

Unfortunately, laws at both nation state level and the international level are very ill‑equipped to achieve these goals.

For instance, direct interventions by nation states into communication and cultural flows of their citizens are ubiquitous in the world. More insidious are the restrictions on communications imposed on users by private network operators or intellectual property rights holders.

We hear words like ”freedom of speech” and ”Human Rights must be respected online”, but so far very few top political figures in the world have acknowledged, or are willing to acknowledge, that this will require regulatory intervention on some private sectors. We may also have to let go of some regulatory protections for private sector actors that we’re currently putting in place to block communications between people.

It is clear to me both at the personal and at the political level that we need to fundamentally reconsider our approach to communication. We need communication to be open and accessible. This is how we make friendships, it is how we make societies, it is how we form worlds.

The control over communities and the ability to shape them must be with the communities themselves. Infrastructure must be regulated to enable that ability and such autonomy.

The raw material for cultural identities, the culture itself, must be made more accessible than is currently the case. Copyright is not only an untimely instrument for the 21st century, it is doing active harm to culture and to communities around the world.

During one of my travels this summer I met a young man who told me with a straight face that he liked open torrent trackers because he wants to be able to seed the unpopular files[1]. I want to seed the unpopular files. I want to see the unpopular torrents and I want to live in a world where a social network, a community on its own initiative preserves the cultural wealth through the spontaneous contribution of all its members. All of the changes that are needed in our laws to ensure that these communities can exist must be undertaken and now.

To all of you here and to all of the Governments and to the public officials and lobbyists that haven’t been able to bring themselves to support these actually very extensive reforms that are necessary for these places and creative communities to exist, I would like to paraphrase George Michael from I think 1992, ”fuck you, this is my culture”[2] and if copyright or telecommunications operators are standing in the way, I think they should go.

Thank you.

[1] In the conference transcription they have put ”see the unpopular files”. [2] Cruising culture and George Michael, in the Guardian from 2006. And the real quote was ”Fuck off, this is my culture.”

Updates…

16mm short

In case you have been wondering about that 16mm short (4 min.) of mine: I had to figure out something and that’s done. The project is coming back from pause mode now…!

Blender 2.65

In other news: Blender 2.65 has been released last week, another wonderful update for this free and open-source 3d, compositing, video editing and much more package – available for all major platforms (and you can easily share e.g. your video projects/.blends between Linux, Windows and Mac – it really just works…!). Release notes. Download.

Everything is a Remix Part 4 (2012, Kirby Ferguson, 15:26; watch it on vimeo or on YouTube)

This is the final part of this wonderful series by Kirby Ferguson, a good summary of the key points.

This one also features some well known patent trolls…

From the V.O.:

Our system of law doesn’t acknowledge the derivative nature of creativity. Instead, ideas are regarded as property, as unique and original lots with distinct boundaries. But ideas aren’t so tidy. They’re layered, they’re interwoven, they’re tangled. And when the system conflicts with the reality… the system starts to fail.

– equal redistribution of wealth in the long run (end of poverty; physical and psychological health stabilise society, prevention of pandemics; dramatically reduced chances for terror since there is hope/perspective for a good life on earth during one’s lifetime; strong basis for true Democracy)

– economies can simply serve the People, no need for growth, economies grow when needed (e.g. more people), shrink naturally when less demand (e.g. fewer people)

– no more bubbles, no more speculation affecting the lives and future of billions of people

– no more wars needed – the most cynical instrument of Capitalism that is there to destroy/create room for new “growth”

– no more destruction of nature in the name of “growth” (oil industry, rain forest, nuclear waste)

– no more rating agencies needed that are there to help the speculators destroy whole countries/continents

– no more aggressive ads/advertising industry needed as motor for “growth”, minimal style ads can serve a good purpose: information for those who seek that piece of information

– all the other helpers of our abusive system of exploitation like copyright and patents can easily get rid of as well, both have striking similarities with the interest concept/serve a similar purpose: make sure that those who have power (knowledge or financial one) get even more of it, while those who have little of it remain without it or loose the little they have (and with that monsters like ACTA, SOPA/PIPA or whatever they call those bills in their baby talk like language can get rid of easily as well – update: Sopa: Sites go dark as part of anti-piracy law protests (www.bbc.co.uk))

– Greed then will be excluded from the system by design instead of being built-in via interest, copyright and patents like now

***

It’s only one change in the system from which everyone will profit in the long run.

Imagine what it can do for you and those who are close to you. Imagine what it can do for others and how this will in return do even more for you. Just imagine.

Leave aside ideologies or believes: keep them for yourself, they belong to you. However this world belongs to everyone.

Just imagine what this one tiny change in our system can do for all of us. And then let’s get started with this a.s.p.

“Can you imagine your internet service provider policing everything you do online? Can you imagine generic drugs that could save lives being banned? Can you imagine seeds that could feed 1000′s being controlled and withheld in the name of patents? This will become reality with ACTA!!!

ACTA is the “Anti-Counterfeiting Trading Agreement”. Disguised as a Trade Agreement, ACTA goes much, much further than that.

For the past three years, ACTA has been negotiated in secret by 39 countries. But the negotiators are not democratically elected representatives. They don’t represent us, but they’re deciding laws behind our backs.

Bypassing democratic process, they impose new criminal sanctions to stop online file sharing. ACTA aims to make Internet Service & Access Providers legally responsible for what their users do online, turning them into private copyright police and judge, censoring their networks. The chilling effects on Free speech would be terrible.

In the name of patents, ACTA would give large corporations the power to stop generic drugs before they reach the people who need them and stop the use of certain seeds for crops.

The European Parliament will soon vote on ACTA. This VOTE will be the occasion to say NO, once and for all, to this dangerous treaty. As citizens, we must URGE our representatives to reject ACTA!!!

8,9% and I am one of them

8,9% of Berlin voted for the Pirate Party last month and I’m proud to say that I was able to contribute to that outcome: while being an Austrian living in Berlin I am allowed to vote in my district. For the first time there was the candidate “Piratenpartei” on the ballot and that’s where I made my cross. And So did many other. And news that close to 10% of Berlin is now in Pirate Party hands spread quickly around the globe (blog.p2pfoundation.net).

I was actually a bit surprised about just how wide that news travelled: it seems people have been waiting for this (blog.p2pfoundation.net). Those 8,9% for the Pirates in Berlin are a signal for others: if Berlin can do it your city, your country can do it too.

And guess what, now after the success in Berlin the German Pirate Party gets around 7% in polls – that is 7% Germany wide: should there be general elections next Sunday we’d had the Piratenpartei sitting in the German Bundestag.

And there is still much more potential for sure: I would not be surprised at all should Pirate Parties around Europe get two digit results in elections within the next five years.

People this is it, this is the time to get out and vote for the Pirates. And if you can’t vote let your family know, your father, mother, brother, sister, grandfather, grandmother, uncle, aunt etc.:

Let them know why you want the Pirate Party in your (local) government, explain to them why the Pirate Party is like “a patch for Democracy” as I read somewhere.

Let them know why (software) patents are truly evil and why Copyright is in fact Copywrong.

Let them know about the Patent Trolls and Copyright Thieves.

Let them know about h.264.

Let them know that Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Samsung, Frauenhofer Institute and all those others h.264 patent holders are S-T-A-E-L-I-N-G everyone’s video footage using software patents (you do not own your own h.264 video footage, not even after transcoding to e.g. an open format: licensing fees for any “commercial” use will need to be paid to all those thieves hiding behind the acronym MPEG-LA).

Let your people know the truth about why a Bill Gates or a Steve Jobs could “achieve” what they did in those last 30 years:

Gates, Jobs etc. are a simply a special kind of breed of thieves who (while now retired used to) organise, set up and run a wide range of (in the US legal, in Europe for sure quite illegal) extortion schemes based on software patents and related “legal” constructs. Latest examples: the Samsung tablet that Apple tries so hard to block via court orders or the fact that Microsoft will make money with basically every Android phone you buy ($5/phone Protection Money for the IP lawyers thanks to software patents).

Or maybe there is something else that makes you angry…? Maybe it’s the RIAA or the MPAA (better know as MAFIAA)…?

There surely are many good reasons to be very angry these days (WikiLeaks censorship, youngsters/hackers who defend Democracy put in jail, Greece looted by the Banks, …) and each reason is a good one to turn your anger into real political change by voting Pirate Party!

This is our chance to get rid of those governments that have been corrupted be the Content and Copyright Mafia.

This is our chance to get rid of ACTA and all future attempts by the Content Mafia who is trying to undermine Democracy in order to save their dying business model, a model that never was right in the first place, a business model that is based on stealing but never giving back to society. One of the best examples being The Walt Disney Company and the Micky Mouse Protection Act from 1998.

Occupy Wall Street and World Revolution

“I see Corporatism, Fascism, chronic Capitalism. I don’t see a free market. I see a police state, I see an American Empire, I see 700 military bases in 135 foreign countries. I see 5000 dead bodies in Iraq. A welfare warfare state which gives out billions of dollars in foreign aid for dictators (…).”

(From the Voice Over/interview at the beginning of the embedded video about the current Occupy Wall Street movement:)

One more thing…

Now that we have Freedom from Steve:

Steve Jobs,

You personally may get away with this and keep making your dirty money for quite a while. Yet not forever.

Thing is you are old and I am so much younger than you. Chances are I’ll still be around when you are long gone. And I’ll make sure the world will hear the true story about h.264. I’ll make sure that people get a chance to remember Steve Jobs for who he really was. You are no innovator, your are no inventor. At the end of the day you are simply that: a thief.

Yes, it’s always very sad when someone dies and I’m sure many including his family will miss him. Yet death does not mean you have to be dishonest. The man may have done a lot for the Apple shareholders and may have pushed the industry in the directions he wanted, but for me personally he is one the biggest disappointments when it comes to role models:

I used to watch his Apple sales shows back in the ’90 on a Performa 5200, connected to the internet via modem. He was a brilliant sales person. He really was. Unfortunately he was not honest about his products shortcomings and he betrayed a whole generation of artists, film makers and young ones who bought his h.264 pitch. Steve Jobs choose to betray and steal from everyone (h.264 video footage) so that he could build a monopoly around/by using the moving image:

* He tried to push h.264 as the only legal video codec for distribution: when you already own an online store for movies (iTunes) as well as parts of a Hollywood film studio (Disney, before that Pixar) this simply is extremely greedy and shows you do not like competition at all. For over ten years open-source audio/video codec developers were severly bullied by all those who stand behind h.264.In his own words (blogs.fsfe.org):

“All video codecs are covered by patents. A patent pool is being assembled to go after Theora and other “open source” codecs now.”

* At the same time, knowingly, just as all the other h.264 patent holders, he was happy with stealing your and mine h.264 video footage: I got an h.264 camera and went out shooting footage, for weeks, months. I was planing to use that footage commercially until I found out about the scheme that Jobs etc. had set up/were happy to make their dirty deals with: the MPEG-LA.

Jobs not only wanted a monopoly on distribution but he also wanted to control independent content, e.g. accepted – and never communicated – the MPEG-LA’s rules e.g. about how long (!!!) your h.264 online video can be before you have to start paying fees to them. Steve Jobs was prepared to and did sell his user, did betray those artists who trusted him and who supported his company in all those years when Apple almost went out of business.

Steve Jobs betrayed us with h.264. I won’t forget that. And I will make sure that this story reaches as many people as possible, now and in the future.

A monopoly on the moving image is simply a very, very dangerous thing. It would be highly irresponsible not to let future generations know about this. Basically what Jobs opened up/promoted is a road to Fascism. People need to hear the h.264 story so that something like this can never happen again!

While this old days info graphic style poster is now 100 years old it could hardly be more up to date today – and it also works for any kind of suppressive regime (with e.g. a centralised economy): “We shoot at you” is what is happening in Syriathese days (www.bbc.co.uk).

For a look at alternatives to our current money (based) system see the P2P Foundation blog and those posts with the P2P Money tag (blog.p2pfoundation.net).

And for those enjoying their rides on the world’s biggest Casino today: just don’t forget that when “zero” comes up it is always the Bank that wins! You won’t be able to change that… Yet we might be able to change the rules. So that it won’t happen again. Of course this means that there would need to be serious consequences. The pyramid scheme would need to go and those responsible would need to be held accountable.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that currently Apple Inc. has more cash than the United States of America (!) (www.bbc.co.uk): (software) patents and traditional copyright have brought us here. Yet it is also no coincidence that right now software patents as well as copyright are finally being investigated and changed by those in charge: UK to legalize private copying of CDs (www.reuters.com) (“Britain will signal on Wednesday that it intends to legalize copying of CDs or DVDs onto digital music players or computers for personal use“). Basically this is the beginning of (a long…?) end of traditional copyright! Software patent reform is happening (politics.slashdot.org) as well as mentioned in a previous post.

And while companies like Apple now have started selling hot air over the internet (“cloud services”) they forget to mention that where there are clouds there will be rain. Sooner or later.

People like Steve Jobs are like those bankers who also generated their financial “products” out of thin air. Their greed brought our financial system close to collapse while the lobbyists were busy targeting Democracy via ACTA. *)

Today we are only a few steps away from real Corporate Fascism, a system where those who can’t pay shall have no voice. More than one politician made suggestions along that line in recent weeks and months. Shame on you.

So have a nice day, make your bets – faites vos jeux, before the croupier says: “Rien ne vas plus!”

And then…?

I guess the People will let you know when the Day of Glory has arrived, when le Jour de Gloire est arrivé…

“A letter sent on behalf of 21 pro-copyright outfits including the Motion Picture Association and IFPI shows how the European Parliament is being urged to sign the controversial ACTA anti-piracy agreement. The backroom lobbying effort document which came into TorrentFreak’s possession, reveals how the organizations ask Parliament not to wait for a response from the European Court of Justice but simply sign “with no further delays.”“ (!!!)

To all you Corporate Fascists, to all copyright thieves and patent trolls, to all the abusers, to the Joe Bidens, the Steve Jobs and the Bill Gates of this world (and their patent troll Moloch organisation MPEG-LA that steals everyones h.264 video footage *), h.264 still being used in every Apple smart phone as we speak while the first Android phones using the open-source WebM/VP8 codec are coming out right now), to all you greedy thieves:

I turned 40 earlier this year and I believe I now have seen enough crap and need to clearly warn the generations coming after me! You know those who may or may not vote for you at the next election and opt for the Pirate Party instead, or those who may stop buying your products because they realise you simply screw them wherever you can (would you trust a company with non-linear video editing that at the same time holds patents on a video codec that you (may need to!) use and that you need to pay licensing fees for every time you use your own work commercially…?!).